It is rare that a conservative finds much to commend in what is probably the most liberal presidential administration in American history, even topping the Franklin Roosevelt administration.  But credit must be given to the president's Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, who seems to have a plethora of commonsense. 

 

Today's "The Wall Street Journal" had an article entitled "Education Secretary Calls Foul on Teams' Academics" in which Secretary Duncan is quoted as saying that Syracuse and Kansas State universities should be bounced from the NCAA basketball tournament for failing to keep at least half their players on track toward graduation.

 

The WSJ said that "The two schools were among 10 in the 68-team National Collegiate Athletic Association playoff that Mr. Duncan said ought to be disqualified for what he called unacceptable academic performances." 

 

When the last Academic Progress Rate index rating report  --  an NCAA metric known as APR  --   came out last June, the NCAA was very concerned that the two revenue sports of basketball and football continue to post the lowest scores amongst all athletic programs. 

 

It is interesting to note that Secretary Duncan was a great player and leading scorer on the Harvard University's basketball team and he managed to graduate magna cum laude. 

 

After Secretary Duncan's stinging criticism of the NCAA for not policing itself on the academic performance of its weakest colleges, the NCAA tried passing the buck back to the Obama admistration.  The WSJ quotes the NCAA spokesman, Bob Williams, as saying that the problem with teams such as Syracuse and Kansas State and the other 8 academically-deficient teams mentioned by the education secretary is that the federal government is at fault for the deficient elementary and secondary schools in America. 

 

"Suggesting students should be better prepared when they arrive on campus, he said, 'We hope to collaborate with the Department of Education to improve college preparation for all students, including those who may become student-athletes.'"

 

It is time for the NCAA to be a good citizen and act responsibly and not to allow any of these 10 teams or any others in the future to participate in the NCAA basketball tournament if they do not meet the academic standards set up by the NCAA itself.